About Venerable Thubten Chonyi

Ven. Chonyi met Venerable Chodron in the mid-1990s, taking refuge with her at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle in 1997. After completing a three-month Vajrasattva retreat the following year, she made a strong commitment to study and practice Dharma as a lay student.
After moving to Idaho in 2001, she was a founder and leader of the Coeur d'Alene Dharma Friends, a founder of Friends of Sravasti Abbey, and a frequent Abbey visitor before realizing her extraordinarily precious circumstances.
She moved to the Abbey in June 2007 and took sramanerika and sikasamana vows in May 2008. (View pictures of her ordination.) She received bhikshuni ordination at Fo Guang Shan in Taiwan in 2011.
Ven. Chonyi's formal education was in theatre, and she worked for many years as a performer, publicist, fundraiser, and producer in the performing arts. She was a Reiki teacher and practitioner for nineteen years, and was Managing Editor for Reiki Magazine International.
At the Abbey, Ven. Chonyi is involved with publicity and "inviting generosity."